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Waaaaiiit a minute. (Natsuki & Shizuru @ garden)

In reviewing my stuff, I don’t think I nailed down exactly how old Shizuru was when she met Natsuki in the garden. Eh?

Natsuki’s Prelude as translated by Apollyon indicates that Natsuki knew Shizuru while she was in her 3rd year middle school and Shizuru was in 2nd year high school. So they met each other before that point, anyway.

And then in chapter 1.3, I mysteriously indicated that Natsuki has known Shizuru for about four years up to that point in the story. It’s mysterious because I don’t remember at all how I came up with that number. Whuh?

Anyone have thoughts on this? I have this little chart I’ve been trying to fill out as a general age timeline:

School year

Age range

Notes

h3

17(18)

Anime: Shizuru is 18 in this year

h2

16(17)

Prelude: Shizuru was in this year

h1

15(16)

Anime: Natsuki is 17 in this year

m3

14(15)

Prelude: Natsuki knew Shizuru since at least this year

m2

13(14)

?

m1

12(13)

?

Let’s see. I remember in the anime flashback that Shizuru was wearing… well, not the middle school sailor uniform, so they had to be across school levels. I suppose one conclusion is that Shizuru was in h1 and Natsuki in m2 at the time. Hmmm. That would make it technically “three years” in 1.3, then.

Well, okay. I typed all that out and ended up answering things myself. Guess I’ll change that bit. ^_^; (This timeline is kinda important for Part 2 as well, I suppose.)

3 thoughts on “Waaaaiiit a minute. (Natsuki & Shizuru @ garden)”

I think you must be right on the year they met. It’s interesting though, how their relationship gives a few mixed signals. When I watch the anime I can’t help thinking that there’s a level of comfort there that just seems like they’ve known each other for more than over one, less than two years. On the other hand, you get no clues as to whether Natsuki knows the first thing about Shizuru’s background which does take away from that ‘known each other for ages’ feeling.

Then there’s that other implication- that perhaps the first time Natsuki had a conversation that wasn’t born of necessity after the death of her mother was when she was 14. 7 years of innocence, followed by 7 years of loneliness. Mmm, numeric symmetry… Yeah, it’s the kind of thing I like to think about <.<

I think you must be right on the year they met. It’s interesting though, how their relationship gives a few mixed signals. When I watch the anime I can’t help thinking that there’s a level of comfort there that just seems like they’ve known each other for more than over one, less than two years. On the other hand, you get no clues as to whether Natsuki knows the first thing about Shizuru’s background which does take away from that ‘known each other for ages’ feeling.

That’s exactly my feeling too. Three years is a long time to nurse an intimate crush (unrequited love or whatever ^^), but three years is also a long time to “know” someone without knowing much about ’em. Three years would be fine for an average friendship, but clearly this isn’t an average relationship. This weirdness is something I intend to address, anyway…

Then there’s that other implication- that perhaps the first time Natsuki had a conversation that wasn’t born of necessity after the death of her mother was when she was 14. 7 years of innocence, followed by 7 years of loneliness. Mmm, numeric symmetry… Yeah, it’s the kind of thing I like to think about <.<

OKAY, I GET THE HINT. (Wait, are you inferring this from something specific, or are you just being rambly? ‘Cause I’d hate for my omake chapter to be off by a year. T_T)

There’s a lot we don’t know about between The Not So Much An Accident and the Prelude. So, as far as Nat-chan’s socialization you can play it several ways. This whole business of 7’s is really just me taking that unhealthy relationship of mine with 3’s and 4’s another step towards dementia.